A Midlife Apple Romance

I’ve started a new love affair. Just like the old fortune-teller in Vietnam predicted a few months ago. She said that I would rekindle a former flame. I thought she was referring to an old boyfriend. I was wrong.

I met it in the late 1980s. I didn’t realise when I thoughtlessly abandoned it a few years later that I would miss it so much. Now that we have been reacquainted I will try my best to never let it go. My rekindled love has a name. The name is Macintosh or Mac for short.

The first computer was an SEII Apple Mac, a state of the art piece of equipment even if it did run on large floppy disks. The Mac was dazzling in comparison to the dull screens and difficult navigation of IBM computers.

My knowledge of the Mac landed me a journalism job. I was employed as a typesetter on a magazine because I had been exposed to the Mac magic. I was promoted to entertainment journalist shortly after.

Yet something went wrong in the early 90s. I betrayed the Mac. I switched to using a PC. These were cheaper, computer parts were easily replaced and stores selling PCs were everywhere. The Mac, however, was exclusively sold at the Apple store, in a specific location and often at the other end of town.

As more people bought PCs it appeared the Mac was going to die out – loved only by loyal designers and graphic artists.

Then something amazing happened. Steve Jobs returned to Apple, kicked the company back into shape and it rose to dominance again. The Apple brand was alive and well and a new generation fell in love with iMacs, iPads, iPhones and iTunes.

Yet, I still resisted the lure of the Mac. I don’t know why. The PC looks cheap and nasty compared to the glossy Mac. It is like shopping at bargain basement when you could have designer clothes. Sure the designer clothes are more expensive but exclusivity is always pricey.

When my last desktop computer succumbed to multiple viruses and my laptop exploded I decided it was the right time to buy a Mac. I loved the 27 inch screen and the wireless technology which meant there was only one cord rather than 3 or 4 which always get tangled on PCs.

I also wanted to try my Adobe software on a Mac. Normally I install the Windows version. However, something made me order the Mac version even though I didn’t have a Mac. The software arrived but I couldn’t use it and I had to wait. Last night the 27 inch iMac arrived. I installed the Adobe software. It was exciting and I hadn’t felt such a thrill using a computer for over 20 years: And it ran without a hitch.

The screen is so large that I don’t have to use a dual screen or minimize windows in order to work on several documents. I can move one document to the side and start working on another document without compromising on size or readability.

In the end I wondered why I’d waited so long to rekindle my Mac romance. The PC will always be there because I work on them, but when I return home of an evening I know my true love is waiting for me.